Cutting machine



April 25, 1939.

T. A. ANDERSON CUTTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 2 8, 193'?April 25, 1939. T ANDERSON CUTTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1937 2Shee'ts-Sheet 2 71%. WWW

Patented Apr. 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIQE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to the class of cutting machines and pertainsparticularly to a machine which is designed primarily for automaticallycutting regular lengths of material.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a mechanismdesigned to be used in association with a sewing machine on which isformed a continuous length of material which is later to be cutinto-short lengths for use as belt strap loops on trousers or othergarments and which is designed to out such material into sections ofequal'length as the material is fed from the sewing machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the abovedescribed character in which the operation of cutting the belt loopmaterial is continuous so long as the material is fed from the sewingmachine upon which it is formed, without checking or holding back uponthe advance movement of the material toward the cutter or exerting anyforward pull upon the material which would tend to place strain upon thesewing machine needle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel mechanismassociated with an electromagnetically operated cutter, which is sodesigned and operated as to perform the two successive steps of closingan electric circuit to energize the electromagnetically operated cutterwhen the advancing end of the belt loop material reaches a selectedpoint from the cutter beneath which it passes and to rapidly remove thecut belt loop from the machine so that the electric circuit of themagnetic cutter will be instantly opened.

Still another object of the invention is to provide in association withan electromagnetically operated reciprocating cutter, a novel mechanismcomprising a pair of rapidly rotating contacting rollers which take ahold upon the advancing end of the material as it passes beneath thecutter so that one of the rolls will be raised to close a circuitcontrolling switch by which the cutter is energized to effect theactuation of the cutter, the rolls being rotated at high speed wherebythe cut strip of material will be moved between them with such highrapidity as to maintain the said switch closed for only a fraction of asecond.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description of the same proceeds and the invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of thisspecification, with the understanding, however,

that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with theshowing of the drawings but may be changed or modified so long as suchchanges or modifications mark no material departure from the salientfeatures of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the mechanism embodying thepresent invention, showing a strip of material being fed thereto from asuit- 19 able source of supply.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. n

Fig. 4 is a detail on an enlarged scale of the switch closing and tapeejecting mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a section taken longitudinally through the oscillatingcontact.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals ofreference designate 20 corresponding parts throughout the several views,the numeral 1 indicates a base upon which the cutting apparatus ismounted and where this apparatus is used in association with a sewingmachine which is forming strap material from which belt loops are to becut, this base may constitute the bed plate of the machine. It is to beunderstood, of course, that whereas the present mechanism is describedas being intended for use in association with a sewing machine fromwhich a strip of belt loop material is issuing, the invention is not tobe restricted to such an association as it will be obvious that themechanism may be efiiciently employed for cutting any form of stripmaterial as it is fed in any manner from a source of supply.

Mounted upon the base I in advance of the supply source (not shown) forthe material which the machine is to cut into selected lengths, is acarrier plate 2 upon which a portion of the ap- 40 paratus is mounted.This plate is provided at its sides with slots 3 through which extendthe .threaded shank portions of wing nuts 4 for engagement in the baseplate 5 so that the carrier plate may be secured to the base plate inany desired adjusted position relative to the supply source of the stripmaterial as hereinafter more specifically described. This carrier plate2 is provided with the recess 5 which extends forwardly from its rearedge and which is provided to receive a part of the apparatus which ismounted upon the base I. This part of the apparatus comprises the foursupporting posts 6 which are arranged to define a rectangular area lyingwithin the recess 5 and upon the upper ends of these posts is mountedthe coil unit 1 of an electromagnet through the center of which avertically disposed reciprocating core or armature 8 is adapted to move.

Extending upwardly from the top of the magnet coil l and rigidly securedto the frame 9 of the magnet, is a standard l upon the upper end ofwhich is a pin H or other suitable means for the attachment thereto of acontractile spring Ill. The lower end of this spring is attached to theupper end of the magnet core 8, as illustrated, so that the springconstantly tends to pull the core upwardly from within the magnet.

Attached to the lower end of the magnet core 8 is a cutter block I3 inwhich is secured a cutting blade l4, the edge of which is directeddownwardly and designed to contactthe base i when the electromagnet isenergized so as to cause the core 8 to be drawn downwardly against thetension of the spring l2.

Secured to the base I between the posts 6 is a guide in the form of anelongated tube or housing I which extends in the direction followed bythe material issuing from the sewing machine in association with whichthe device may be used or from another source of supply. This tube isopen at its ends and the forward end terminates adjacent to the areacontacted by the cutting blade l4 when it is driven downwardly, asdescribed. A second guide tube, indicated by the numeral I6, is arrangedin alinement with the tube l5 and at the opposite side of the cuttingblade so as to guide the material to the circuit closing and throw-outmechanism which is about to be described. This second guide is alsomounted upon the base i so that its position and the positions of theother guide and the cutting knife relative to the source of supply forthe strip material, are fixed.

Mounted upon the carrier plate 2 at opposite sides of the recess 5 andat the sides of the forward guide I6 are the upstanding bearing bracketsH, the lower portions of which are laterally turned to form feet l8,each of V which has a slot 19 through which an attaching screw.

20 passes. The slot I9 of each bracket foot runs lengthwise of thedevice or parallel with the guides so that the positions of the bracketsmay be shifted along paths extending lengthwise of the mechanism.

Sup-ported between the upper ends of the brackets I1 is a shaft 2 I, theends of which pass through the brackets, as shown. This shaft hassecured to it a frame indicated generally by the numeral 22 andconsisting of the two spaced parallel side bars 23 which extendforwardly in parallel relation with the longitudinal centers of theguides and which carry at their forward ends the transverse rollersupporting shaft 24. The roller which '1 is supported upon and securedto this shaft is indicated by the numeral 25 and has its surfaceroughened or knurled so that proper non-slipping contact will be madewith the strip material which passes beneath. At one side of the frame22 an upstanding arm 26 is formed integral with the adjacent side bar 23while at the opposite side of the frame a spring 21 is located which hasone end fixed to the adjacent bracket I! while its other end engages thetop edge of the adjacent bar 23 so that this spring constantly tends toforce the frame to swing or oscillate downwardly. v

Beneath the forward ends of the bars 23 of .the oscillating frame 22 arebearing blocks 28 vwhich are mounted upon the carrier plate 2 and thesebearing blocks support a drive shaft 29 which extends beneath and inparallel relation with the shaft 24 and carries beneath the roller 25 adriving roller 38. This roller 33 is knurled or corrugated like the roll25. The shaft 29 is supplied with a pulley 3| or any other suitablemeans which will facilitate the application of driving power thereto sothat the roll 38 may be continuously rotated while the mechanism is 1operation.

The bar 23 from which the upright arm 26 extends, carries a pivot screw31 which extends outwardly from the side thereof in spaced relation withthe adjacent end of the shaft 24 which, as shown in Fig. 2, is alsoextended beyond the bar 23. This pivot screw supports the metalliccontact plate 32 through the medium of the sleeve 33 formed integralwith the plate and through which the screw passes. As illustrated inFig. 5, this sleeve 33 is suitably insulated from the screw and from theadjacent metallic parts of the device so that there shall be no shortcircuiting of electric current from the plate 3 into theadjacent partsof the apparatus. Integral with the plate 32 is a lateral arm 34 whichcarries a terminal screw 35 which facilitates the attachment of anelectric wire thereto and the free forward end of the plate 32 carriesthe contact 33 which is directed upwardly.

Secured to the carrier plate 2 in advance of the contact plate 32 is anupstanding bracket 3i. This is electrically insulated from the plate onwhich it is mounted and has its upper end turned rearwardly, asindicated at 38, and threaded through this end is the adjustable contactscrew 39 which overlies the contact 36 of the plate 32 and is adapted toelectrically engage therewith during the operation of the mechanism.

The upper surface of the contact plate 32 has a strip of insulationmaterial 48 secured longitudinally thereon and to this strip is attacheda hook 4| which has one end of the contractile spring 4| coupledtherewith while the other end of the spring is attached by the screw 42to the upper end of the arm 26. This spring 4| constantly urges thecontact plate 32 to swing upwardly but this upward movement of the plateis limited by the engagement of the insulation strip 38 withthe'extended end of the shaft 24 which lies thereover. The spring 2?engaging the opposite side of the frame 22 from the contact plate 32constantly maintains the frame in depressed position so that the roller25 will rest upon the roller 3!! and when the rollers are in thisrelation, a supply space or gap exists between the contacts 36 and 38,as is shown in Fig. 1.

At the opposite side of the rollers from the contacts, a movementlimiting or stop arm 43 is secured in any suitable location as upon thetop of the adjacent bearing block 28, and has its upper end turnedinwardly to overlie the end of the adjacent part 23 so that it willprevent the frame being moved upwardly to an extreme position.

In the operation of the present mechanism, the same is disposed inposition in front of the needle and feed dog mechanism of the machinewith the guides l5 and [6 in the proper position to receive the sewnmaterial as it moves forwardly from the machine needle. The materialwill pass beneath the upraised cutter and will be guided to the engagedrollers 253ll by the forward guide 16. These rollers are rotated at ahigh speed while the machine is in operation, preferably at a speed ofapproximately 3,000 revolutions per minute. This rotation of the rollerswill cause them to take a hold upon the advancing end of the strip ofmaterial as it leaves the forward end of the guide 16 and rides upwardlyupon the under roll II and the spacing of the contacts 35-48 is suchthat the thickness of the material passing between the rolls will besufiicient to raise or oscillate the upper frame the necessary distanceto bring the contacts into engagement. As illustrated in Fig, 1,electric current is supplied from any suitable source by the Wire 44which leads to the terminal or binding screw 45 which is carried by thebracket 31. From here, when the contacts 36--38 are in engagement, thecurrent flows to the screw 35 and through the wire 46 to one side of themagnet coil 1, leaving the other side of the coil to return to itssource by way of the wire 41.

When the frame 22 is raised by the advancement of the end of the stripof material which is designated by the numeral 48, between the rolls soas to bring the contacts into engagement, the circuit for the magnetwill be closed and the armature 8 will be drawn downwardly rapidly so asto cause the blade [4 to sever the strip against the underlying base 1.Due to the high speed at which the rollers 2530 are run, this operationof closing the switch contacts, energizing the magnet and actuating thecutter and advancing the severed section of the strip through and beyondthe rolls, is almost instantaneous. In other words, the consecutivemovements of the parts or consecutive steps occur with such greatrapidity that the frame 22 is allowed to drop back so as to open thecontacts and thus de-energize the magnet coil before the lowered knifecan interfere with the further advancement or" the strip material andbefore any burning or arcing of the contacts can occur. By the novelmounting of the contact carrying plate 32, it will be seen that themachine may be used to cut strips of different thicknesses withoutnecessitating re-adjustment of the contact 35 relative to the contact 33because of the fact that the plate 32 may swing down after the twocontacts have been drawn together if further upward movement of theroller 25 is necessary.

By the provision of means for adjusting the carrier plate 2 upon whichthe circuit closing and cut strip ejecting mechanism is mounted,relative to the uides and the cutter, it will be apparent that themachine may be used to cut sections of different required lengths.

With the present machine any number of belt loops or other pieces ofstrip material may be cut from a continuous supply strip withoutvariation in the lengths of the sections whereas in other machinesconstructed for a like purpose great difiiculty has been experienced inobtaining out strips of constant length.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for cutting tape-like material into lengths, comprising avertically movable cutter beneath which the material is fed from asource of supply, electrical means for moving said cutter for a cuttingoperation, an electric current carrying circuit having said meanstherein, a normally open switch in said circuit, and means at apredetermined distance from and upon the opposite side of the cutterfrom said source of supply for engaging the advancing end of thematerial and efiecting the successive operations of closing said switchand removing the severed portion of material after the knife has rapidlybeen actuated.

2. In a machine for cutting definite lengths from a strip of material, avertically movable cutter beneath which the material strip is fed from asource of supply, an electric current conducting circuit having thereina pair of normally separated switch contacts and electromagnetic meansconnected with the cutter and operating when energized to actuate saidcutter to strip cutting position, a pair of roller members disposed inthe path of movement of the material upon the side of the cutteropposite from the source of supply and adapted to have the material passtherebetween, one of said rollers being movable relative to the other toadmit the material therebetween, means for connecting a driving meanswith the rollers whereby the rollers may be constantly rotated at a highspeed, said rollers being intermittently separated by the material andmeans whereby the movable roller when separated from the other roller bythe engagement of the advancing end of the material therebetween willeiTect the closing of said switch contacts to energize said magneticcutter controlling means to efiect severance of the material.

3. A cutting machine for strip material, comprising a verticallyreciprocatable cutting blade beneath which the strip material is fedfrom a source of supply, electromagnetic means connected with said bladeand which when energized eiiects the movement of the blade for a cuttingopera.- tion, means for controlling the supply of electric current tosaid magnetic means, a pair of normally contacting superimposed rollersdisposed transversely of the path of travel of the strip upon the sideof the cutter opposite from the source of supply, means for connectingdriving means with said rollers said rollers being rotated at a highrate of speed, and means for eifecting the energization of saidelectromagnetic means simultaneously with the engagement of theadvancing end of the strip by and between the rollers, saidelectromagnetic means being de-energized simultaneously with the passageof the cut section of the strip between the rollers.

4. A machine for cutting strip material into lengths, comprising avertically reciprocatable cutting blade, electromagnetic means whichwhen energized efiects the movement of the cutting blade for a cuttingoperation, a pair of roller members disposed in superimposed relationtransversely of the path of travel of the strip of material, meanscarrying one of said rollers permitting its separation from the otherroller by the strip of material passing therebetween, and a pair ofelectrical contacts controlling the flow of electric current to saidelectromagnetic means and one of said contacts being movable with saidmovable roll to be brought into electrical engagement with the othercontact simultaneously with the separation to a predetermined extent ofthe rolls by a piece of material therebetween.

5. A machine for cutting strip material into lengths, comprising avertically reciprocatable cutting blade, electromagnetic means whichwhen energized efiects the movement of the cutting blade for a cuttingoperation, a pair of roller members disposed in superimposed relationtransversely of the path of travel of the strip of material, meanscarrying one of said rollers permitting its separation from the otherroller by the strip of material passing therebetween, and

a pair of electrical contacts controlling the flow of electric currentto said electromagnetic means and one of said'contacts being movablewith said movable roll to be brought into electrical engagement with theother contact simultaneously with the separation of the rolls to apredetermined extent by a piece of material therebetweem'said rolls andcontacts being mounted for adjustment relative to the cutting bladewhereby the lengths of the pieces of material may be varied.

6. In a cutting machine for strip material, the combination with avertically reciprocatable -e1ec tromagnetically actuated cutting knifebeneath which-the material moves from a source of supply, of a fixedroller member disposed transversely of the path of movement of thematerial and upon the side of the cutter opposite from the source ofsupply, means for rotating saidroll, a frame mounted for oscillationupon an axis extending transversely of the path of travel of thematerial, a roller rotatably carried by the frame and normally restingupon the top of the first roller, said rollers being constantly rotatedand designed to engage the advancing end of the strip material betweenthe contacting parts thereof, a fixed electric contact, a second contactnormally disposed in spaced relation to the fixed contact and carried bysaid frame for oscillation in a vertical plane, said contactscontrolling the fiow of electrical energy to said magnetic means, meansyieldably holding said rollers in engagement one with the other, andmeans yieldably holding said oscillatable contact against movement awayfrom the fixed contact.

'7. A machine for cutting strip material into lengths, comprising avertically reciprocatable cutting blade, electromagnetic means whichwhen energized effects the movement of the cutting blade for a cuttingoperation, a pair of roller members disposed in superimposed relationtransversely of the path of travel of the strip of material, meanscarrying one of said rollers permitting its separation from the otherroller by the strip of material passing therebetween, and a pair ofelectrical contacts controlling the flow of electric current to saidelectromagnetic means and one of said contacts being movable with saidmovable roll to be brought into electrical engagement with the othercontact simultaneously with the separation to a predetermined extent ofthe rolls by a piece of material therebetween, and said rolls beingdriven at high speed to effect the rapid advancement of a piece ofmaterial after being out.

8. A tape cutter comprising a pair of rollers disposed one upon theother, means for turning said rollers, a frame supporting one of therollers for oscillatory movement away from the other roller, means forguiding tape material between the rollers to be gripped thereby, thegripped tape raising the said one of the rollers, a knife disposed inspaced relation with the rollers and supported for movement across thepath of travel of the" tape, electrical means coupled with the knifewhich when energized moves the knife for a cutting operation and switchmeans controlling the flow of current to said electrical means, saidswitch means being closed when said tape is en-' gaged between andmaintaining said one roller raised to energize said electrical means forthe actuation of said knife to cut the tape.

THOMAS A. ANDERSON.

